A History of Science, Volume 5(of 5) - Aspects Of Recent Science

Henry Smith Williams, Edward Huntington Williams

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• Publié par: ubbe
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 21
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of Science, Volume 5(of 5), by Henry Smith Williams This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: A History of Science, Volume 5(of 5) Aspects Of Recent Science Author: Henry Smith Williams Release Date: November 18, 2009 [EBook #30495] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF SCIENCE, V5 *** Produced by David Widger with thanks to Google Books A HISTORY OF SCIENCE Aspects Of Recent Science By Henry Smith Williams Assisted By Edward H. Williams In Five Volumes VOLUME V. New York And London Harper And Brothers Copyright, 1904, by Harper & Brothers. Published November, 1904. BOOK V CHAPTER I—THE BRITISH MUSEUM The founding of the British Museum, p. 4—Purchase of Sir Hans Sloane's collection of curios by the English government, p. 4—Collection of curios and library located in Montague Mansion, p. 5—Acquisition of the collection of Sir William Hamilton, p. 5—Capture of Egyptian antiquities by the English, p. 5—Construction of the present museum building, p. 6—The Mesopotamian department, p. 8—The Museum of Natural History in South Kensington, p. 8—Novel features in the structure of the building, p. 9—Arrangement of specimens to illustrate evolution, protective coloring, etc., p.— —Exhibits of stuffed specimens amid their natural surroundings, p. 10—Interest taken by visitors in the institution, p. 12. CHAPTER II—THE ROYAL SOCIETY OP LONDON FOR IMPROVING NATURAL KNOWLEDGE The Royal Society, p. 14—Weekly meetings of the society, p. 15—The tea before the opening of the lecture, p. 15—Announcement of the beginning of the lecture by bringing in the great mace, p. 16—The lecture-room itself, p. 17—Comparison of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin, p. 18—The library and reading-room, p. 19—The busts of distinguished members, p. 20—Newton's telescope and Boyle's air-pump, p. 21. CHAPTER III—THE ROYAL INSTITUTION AND LOW-TEMPERATURE RESEARCHES The founding of the Royal Institution, p. 29—Count Rumford, p. 30—His plans for founding the Royal Institution, p. 32—Change in the spirit of the enterprise after Rumford's death, p. 33—Attitude of the earlier workers towards the question of heat as a form of motion, p. 34—Experiments upon gases by Davy and Faraday, p. 35—Faraday's experiments with low temperatures, p. 39—Other experiments to produce lower temperature, p. 39—Professor De-war begins low-temperature research, p. 39—His liquefaction of hydrogen, p. 43—Hampson's method of producing low temperatures, p. 44—Dewar's invention of the vacuum vessel, p. 53—Its use in retaining liquefied gases, p. 54—Changes in physical properties of substances at excessively low temperatures, p. 56—Magnetic phenomena at low temperatures, p. 56—Changes in the color of substances at low temperatures, p. 57—Substances made luminous by low temperatures, p. 58—Effect of low temperatures upon the strength of materials, p. 59—Decrease of chemical activity at low temperatures, p. 60—Olzewski's experiments with burning substances in liquid oxygen, p. 61—Approach to the absolute zero made by liquefying hydrogen, p. 69—Probable form of all matter at the absolute zero, p. 70—Uncertain factors that enter into this determination, p. 71. CHAPTER IV—SOME PHYSICAL LABORATORIES AND PHYSICAL PROBLEMS Sir Norman Lockyer and Spectroscopic Studies of the Sun and Stars, p. 73—Observations made at South Kensington by Sir Norman and his staff, p. 74—His theories as to the influence of sun-spots and terrestrial weather, p. 75—Spectroscopic studies of sun-spots, p. 76—Studies of the so-called reverse lines of the spectrum, p. 78—Discovery of the new star in the constellation of Perseus, p. 80—Spectroscopic studies of the new star, p. 81—Professor Ramsay and the new gases, p. 82—University College in London, p. 83—Professor Ramsay's laboratory and its equipment, p. 84—The discovery of argon, p. 86—Professor Ramsay's work on krypton, neon, and zenon, p. 87—Discoveries of new constituents of the atmosphere, p. 88—Interesting questions raised by these discoveries, p. 89—Professor J. J. Thomson and the nature of electricity, p. 92—Study of gases in relation to the conduction of electricity, p. 93—Electricity regarded as a form of matter, p. 97—Radio-activity, p. 97—The nature of emanations from radio-active bodies, p. 10a—The source of energy of radioactivity, p. 106—Radio-activity and the structure of the atom, p. 108—Effect of radio-activity upon heat-giving life of the sun and the earth, p. 111. CHAPTER V—THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY The aquarium, p. 113—The arrangement of the tanks and exhibits, p. 114—The submarine effect of this arrangement, p. 115—Appearance of the submarine dwellers in their natural surroundings, p. 116—The eels and cuttle-fishes, p. 116—The octopuses, p. 117—The technical department of the laboratory, p. 119—The work of Dr. Anton Dohrn, founder of the laboratory, p. 121—The associates of Dr. Dohrn, p. 122—The collecting of surface specimens, p. 123—Collecting specimens by dredging, p. 124—Fauna of the Bay of Naples, p. 124—Abundance of the material for biological study, p. 125—Advantages offered by marine specimens for biological study, p. 126—Method of preserving jelly-fish and similar fragile creatures, p. 127—Uses made of the specimens in scientific study, p. 128—Different nationalities represented among the workers at the laboratory, p. 130—Methods of investigation, p. 131—Dr. Diesch's studies of heredity at the laboratory, p. 131—Other subjects under scientific investigation, p. 132—The study of chromosomes, p. 133—Professor Weismann's theory of heredity based on these studies, p. 33—Experiments in the division of egg-cells, p. 134—Experiments tending to refute Weismann's theory, p. 136—Dr. Dohrn*s theory of the type of the invertebrate ancestor, p. 137—Publications of the laboratory, p. 139—Meetings of the investigators at Signor Bifulco's, p. 141—Marine laboratories of other countries, p. 142. CHAPTER VI—ERNST HAECKEL AND THE NEW ZOOLOGY The "dream city" of Jena, p. 145—The old market-place, p. 147—The old lecture-halls of the university, p. 148—Ernst Haeckel, p. 151—His discoveries of numerous species of radiolarians, p. 153—The part played in evolution by radiolarians, p. 156—Haeckel's work on morphology, and its aid to Darwinian philosophy, p. 156—Freedom of thought and expression in the University of Jena, p. 157—Haeckel's laboratory, p. 160—His method of working, p. 161—His methods of teaching, p. 164—The import of the study of zoology, p. 166—Its bearing upon evolution, p. 168—The present status of Haeckel's genealogical tree regarding the ancestry of man, p. 171—Dubois's discovery of the skull of the ape-man of Java, p. 173—Its close resemblance to the skull of the ape, p. 173—Man's line of descent clearly traced by Haeckel, p. 175—The "missing link" no longer missing, p. 176. CHAPTER VII—SOME MEDICAL LABORATORIES AND MEDICAL PROBLEMS The Boulevard Pasteur, p. 179—The Pasteur Institute, p. 180—The tomb of Pasteur within the walls, p. 181—Aims and objects of the Pasteur Institute, p. 182—Antirabic treatment given, p. 183—Methods of teaching in the institute, p. 185—The director of the institute and his associates, p. 185—The Virchow Institute of Pathology, p. 186—Studies of the causes of diseases, p. 187—Organic action and studies of cellular activities, p. 188—The discoveries of Rudolph Virchow, p. 188—His work in pathology, p. 189—Character of the man, his ways of living and working, p. 189—His methods of lecturing and teaching, p. 191—The Berlin Institute of Hygiene, p. 193—Work of Professor Koch as carried on in the institute, p. 194—Work of his successors in the institute, p. 195—Investigations in hygiene, p. 196—Investigations of the functions of the human body in their relations to everyday environment, p. 197—The Museum of Hygiene, p. 198—Studies in methods of constructing sewerage systems in large cities, p. 199—Studies in of constructing sewerage systems in large cities, p. 199—Studies in problems of ventilation, p. 200. CHAPTER VIII—SOME UNSOLVED SCIENTIFIC PROBLEMS The ever-shifting ground of scientific progress, p. 203—Solar and telluric problems, p. 205—Mayer's explanation of the continued heat of the sun, p. 206—Helmholtz's suggestion as to the explanation, p. 207—The estimate of the heat-giving life of the sun by Lord Kelvin and Professor Tait, p. 208—Lockyer's suggestion that the chemical combination of elements might account for the sun's heat, p. 209—Computations as to the age of the earth's crust, p. 210—Lord Kelvin's computation of the rigidity of the telluric structure, p. 211—Estimates of the future life of the earth, p. 212—Physical problems, p. 213—Attempts to explain the power of gravitation, p. 214—The theory of Le Sage, p. 214—Speculations based upon the hypothesis of the vortex atom, p. 216—Lord Kelvin's estimate of the vortex theory, p. 217—Attempted explanation of the affinity of atoms, p. 217—Solubility, as explained by Ostwald and Mendeleef, p. 218—Professor Van 't Hoof's studies of the space relations of atoms, p. 219—Life problems, p. 220—Question as to living forms on other worlds besides our own, p. 21 x—The question of the "spontaneous generation" of living protoplasm, p. 222—The question of the evolution from non-vital to vital matter, p. 223—The possibility of producing organic matter from inorganic in the laboratory, p. 224—Questions as to the structure of the cell, p. 225—Van Beneden's discovery of the centrosome, p. 226—Some problems of anthropology, p. 227. CHAPTER IX—RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT The scientific attitude of mind, p. 2 30—Natural versus supernatural, p. 233—Inductive versus deductive reasoning, p. 235—Logical induction v